Thursday, October 22, 2009

TV News:* Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls) will be replacing Maura Tierney on Parenthood. Sources: Zap2It, Ausiello Files (includes interview)* Doctor Who is not just replacing the showrunner and The Doctor, they are also changing the logo and the design of the Tardis. Sources: SciFi Wire and Zap2It (logo), io9 (Tardis)* FlashForward no longer has 2 show runners. Marc Guggenheim, who joined the show at ABC's insistance, is leaving. Co-creator David Goyer will now be the sole show runner. Sources: SciFi Wire, Zap2It* Katee Sackhoff will be guest starring in Big Bang Theory in November. Sources: Zap2It, SciFi Wire* Glee will be coming to DVD in December (with 13 episodes, the other 9 presumably coming later). Sources: Zap2It, Futon Critic* Madonna is apparently a fan of Glee. She has given the show rights to her catalog. Source: Zap2It* Nathan Fillion is going to appear as in his Browncoat outfit again (as a Halloween costume on Castle). Sources: io9, SciFi Wire

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Technology:* Barnes & Noble has released an ebook reader called Nook. It has some distinct advantages over some of the previous ones (at least to me). Features: AT&T 3G and WiFi support, any ebook is free while you are in B&N, you can lend a book to a friend for 14 days, it supports PDF and the open ePub formats (which includes Fictionwise multi-format books), you can sync with an iPhone or PC with eReader software, and it can hold 2GB with a card reader to add more. Sources: CNet Crave, CNet News, Wired Epicenter, Wired Gadget Lab, Slashdot, SF Signal, SF Gate* Google is launching Google Editions, which will sell ebooks that can be read by anything with a web browser. Books will come from the Google Books project, as approved by copyright holders. Sources: Wired, Google, Locus, CNet* CNet has an article on the Internet Archive's BookServer project.* HP and Amazon are teaming to produce Print on Demand paperbacks of ebooks.* Wireless charging of devices may be coming as soon as next year.

Astronomy:* The GigaGalaxy Zoom Project has produced a 360 degree zoomable image of the night sky. Source: Slashdot (with links to more)* Hubble image of a galactic merger in the constellation of Cancer. Source: Space.com* The European Southern Observatory in Chile captured a great image of Barnard's galaxy. Sources: Space.com, io9* NASA's Swift satellite has some amazing images of the Andromeda galaxy. Source: SciFi Wire* 32 new exoplanets have been discovered.* A reusable rocket flew a test flight out of New Mexico's Spaceport America. Source: Space.com Spaceflight, Space.com Technology

History:* A huge collection of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been found, giving some insights to the Dark Ages. Sources: BBC Photogallery, BBC Article* A 5,000 year old underwater town off the coast of Greece is being explored by an international team. Source: BBC* A primate fossil has been found that pre-dates Lucy. Sources: Slashdot(with links to others), Wired* A mini Roman Coliseum has been found by archeologists. Source: CNN* For something a little more recent, Life Magazine has put their complete archive online for free viewing in the original layout.